What Cost, Winning?

If I were playing third base and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say, "Sorry, Mom," but nobody beats me. - Leo Durocher

DD and I have been playing a card game called "Racko" lately.



It's fun, and at least a little challenging, which I appreciate but here's the problem: I win FAR more than my DD does. Racko is about strategy, and the way you win isn't just by getting the right cards for you, it's by paying attention to what the other person pulls from the discard pile and guessing what they need and HOLDING it in your own rack until the end to keep them from winning.

I've explained this to my DD. I've discussed strategy and how best to win. And she still doesn't grasp it. I know, I know -- she's only ten (even if she IS five feet tall... I'm still in shock over this), so I wonder where to draw the line. At what point, if at all, do I let her win? Is encouraging her by winning now and then going to help or hurt her if she doesn't earn it? She does win sometimes, but only once for my four or five and she gets so angry and frustrated.

**sigh**

I'm torn between wanting her to earn her wins and wanting her to be less discouraged.

What would you do?

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I was talking about romantic comedy yesterday and realized that I could have made a few suggestions myself. Nearly anything Jennifer Crusie, of course. But what about lesser known ePubbed authors that I've stumbled across?

One of the funniest ePubbed books I read in a long time was "The Jinx" by Jennifer Johnson. She has a new book out called "The Clergy Affair" which I have on my TBR list -- I can't decide if I want it in eBook or Print (it's available in both). But, if you're looking for a laugh, I highly recommend her work. And I'm not just saying that because she's in the LASR author spotlight this week giving away an autographed copy of "The Clergy Affair" -- seeing her face this morning only reminded me of how much I loved "The Jinx". If you want to get a clue of her sense of humor, though, go read her spotlight posts. She's a hoot (and if you leave a comment, you're entered to win her book -- if you don't want it, you can always send it to me *G*)!

So, intead of rom/com, yesterday at the library I picked up: "Keepsake Crimes" by Laura Childs (a cozy mystery), "One Scream Away" by Kate Brady (I saw this on someone else's blog... don't remember who now, maybe Brandy?), and "Smash Cut" by Sandra Brown. Not a giggle between them (though the cozy might be at least a little amusing... has anyone read this series before?).

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Go Play at Anno's

She's hosting a fun game (of sorts) on her blog. I played... why don't you?

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Another Christmas Meme :-)

Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. ~ Denis Waitely

I'm not sure, but I don't think I can get any busier. All I want for Christmas are 48 hour days... please?

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Another Christmas Meme from Judy:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both, depends on the gift. Bags are awesome for those oddly shaped presents.
2. Real or artificial tree? real -- a decent artificial tree is WAY too expensive. Besides, a real tree is actually better for the environment!
3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend following Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? Before New Years Day
5. Do you like eggnog? Ugh, no. And I don't understand why, because I should. But... ugh.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My "M's Box" -- my SIL made me this great wooden suitcase full of art supplies and had my name engraved on the top. It was the best gift ever. As an adult? My puppy-dog, Bailey.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? One in our living room, and my DD has two in her bedroom.
8. Hardest person to buy for? My husband -- this year, he gave me a list, the website I could buy stuff from and their item numbers. Gotta love it.
9. Easiest person to buy for? my DD -- it's harder to stop buying for her than it is to stop!
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? All my gifts were given with love... how can I complain about that?
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mostly mail.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? "It's A Wonderful Life" -- I cry every time I watch it.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I usually start the day after Christmas... this is the first year I wasn't done shopping by the end of summer. Ugh.. I still have stuff to get. I HATE that.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chocolate -- but, then that's my favorite thing to eat ANY time of the year.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear? You mean the white ones? Then, those.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Of course -- On Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Blitzen, on Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Vixen -- but don't forget Rudolph and Leroy.

What? You've never heard of Leroy? Then click through and enjoy!



20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. We have a big red bow with long streamers.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? THE SNOW -- UGH!
23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? Nope -- we decorate in early eclectic.
24. What do/did you leave for Santa? Nuthin... we were big meanies! LOL...

If you decide to play, let me know so I can come visit!

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Instead of a quiz, I give you a Time Waster!


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String Games and Pumpkin Seeds

Time is what we want most, but... what we use worst. ~William Penn

DD was reading one of her Eyewitness books yesterday (I LOVE those books) and asked me what "Cat's Cradle" was. I told her to go get me a piece of yarn about "so" long and I'd show her. When she did, I amazed her with my ability to make "Cup & Saucer" and "Jacob's Ladder" before playing our Cat's Cradle game. She spent hours messing with her yarn. We even found a great website that shows you how to make even more. I found it interesting that she's playing the same games I did as a kid -- and I didn't even introduce her. Apparently Cat's Cradle is timeless.

We also cooked up our sugar pumpkin yesterday. DD loved scooping out the pumpkin guts and washing the seed. We baked them and YUM, they turned out wonderfully well. We munched on them half the night (there are no calories in pumpkin seeds, right?). Today we'll make some pumpkin butter, pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies. I'll save enough for a pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.

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Writing? Not so good. I've discovered my heroine is still deeply in love with her dead husband -- she was living on the street as a teenager, and he rescued her from a terrible life. Eventually, they fell in love and were married. She's not in the mood to be with anyone else at all. And she's very much a recluse, so Ben's having some problems getting to know her. He's attracted to her a little, but not astoundingly -- not yet. So he's needed some goosing from me to get his butt to her house.

Altogether frustrating. I am at a total of about 3500 words and that is NOT good. It doesn't help that DH got up early (so no morning writing for me) and DD was bored (it was cold, rainy and windy yesterday -- leftover stuff from hurricane Noel) and I wouldn't let her sit in front of the TV all day, and DH came home early because of the weather. I just didn't have time to write (and I HATE saying that, because I've always been of the mind you can find time to write if it's important enough for you).

In any case, I have an hour before I wake DH up to go out again (nope, no deer yesterday), so I'm leaving you all and writing. I'll try to update you later on.

EDITED TO ADD: It's 5:30 a.m. and I'm at 4,233 words total (about 700 words written this morning). Hopefully I'll get more in later!

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What Your Bathroom Habits Say About You

You are a very considerate person, but that doesn't mean you let people walk all over you. You spend a lot on clothes, and you tend to be a very dresser. However, it's hard for you to throw away trendy clothes when they go out of style. You are a very outgoing person. You are true to yourself, and you never hold back. In relationships, you tend to be very romantic and demanding. You'll treat your partner like gold, but you expect a lot in return.

What Do Your Bathroom Habits Say About You?

*SNORT* Spend a lot on clothes? HAHAHAHA... Trendy dresser? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! OUTGOING? HAHAHAHAHAHAH *SNORT* HAHAHAHA!!

You?

Reading and Writing Out Of Order

Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession. - Mohandas Gandhi

I discovered via yesterday's Booking It that, almost without exception (thanks, Marty, for keeping me from feeling like a total freak!), I am one of the only confessed "peekers" in the entire blogosphere. Many non-peekers pointed out they wanted to read in the same order the author wrote.

I have another confession to make. I don't write in order. I usually write the ending first, or very close to the beginning. I wonder if the two things are related?

When I first start working on a longer piece I'll use writing prompts to get to know my characters. Nothing like tossing them into unusual and predetermined (but not determined by ME) circumstances to see how they behave. Frequently, I'll use those prompt responses as a scene at some point in the story. Also frequently those responses will give me ideas on other scenes and I'll write those, too, having no clear idea of where or whether they will fit in the story.

Bet you've figured out that I'm not a plotter, haven't you? I usually know the beginning and the end of a long story, just not exactly how to get from point A to point B. That's where the fun comes in.

To be honest, IMHO this makes the writing easier. By the time I really hunker down and get to it, I have half the novel already written -- just not in any recognizable order. It's a little like a jigsaw puzzle (something else I love to do!) and keeps the excitement and freshness in the writing. I seldom get bored. I often get frustrated or annoyed, but not bored.

And so this peeker and pantser is done confessing for now. I have a miscellaneous scene to write, based on an idea Groovy gave me a couple days ago. I don't know if it'll be part of a book, the middle of short story or something that will never see the light of day, but I'm in desperate need of writing something new after all the editing I've done lately.

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I mentioned, above, that I love to assemble jigsaw puzzles. I also like crosswords and cryptoquotes, but I HATE Sudoku. That's something that feels really strange to me because, really, the idea behind all of them is similar. So I keep messing around with the daily Sudoku puzzles in my daily paper ... but I really, really hate them.

What about you? Do you like puzzles that challenge your brain? Some of them? All of them? And, if you do like Sudoku, can you please tell me what I'm missing? LOL...

Have a great day!